


What Comes After

by LadyOfSparrows



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Crying, Gen, Getting Together, Post-Canon, Recovery, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-18 12:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21760948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyOfSparrows/pseuds/LadyOfSparrows
Summary: They saved the world, but they changed it in the process. Who is Lio Fotia if he does not burn?Mostly introspection. Kinda angsty, with a hint of fluff?Self-harm tag because Lio sticks his hand in a candle flame. Sorry if that's spoilers, but figured it's a good heads-up to give, as it isn't 'serious' and has good reason but is still self-harm.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 6
Kudos: 110





	What Comes After

**Author's Note:**

> Promare spoilers, obviously. I had a lot of feelings about this movie and got to see it a second time during the redux showing, so this happened. In like, an hour or two, so don't expect perfection. It's a bit of a style experiment. 
> 
> The dragon!Lio crying scene was my favorite and oh boy I have so much to say about it, but I'm holding off till it's more widely available for viewing. But that and the scene where the Promare leave/Lio's face during that was the inspo, I guess. 
> 
> Promare GaloLio Said Gay Rights. Bye.

For a few days, they are so focused on rescuing and rebuilding, Lio has no time to notice the empty space in his chest. He and Galo had scorched the whole earth in a massive blaze. It was the fulfillment of the ever-present Burnish call to  _ burn, burn, burn, _ and they burned until there was nothing left. 

The Promare giggled with gratitude when they left, caressing Lio's fingertips one final time. And then, like a candle burning low at the end of the night, the flame in his chest was snuffed out. Loss sat in the crevice left by the flame's absence, but then the world came crashing back around him. There was no time to rest. No time to linger on the emptiness. 

Once the immediate crisis is over, there is still too much left to do. All his focus goes to his people. Even if there are no Burnish now, people will not change their prejudices in an instant. Lio was their leader, and makes it his responsibility to advocate on behalf of all ex-Burnish who have nowhere to return to. 

So he testifies, and advocates, and isn’t entirely certain he’s doing it right. He was a terrorist, for fuck’s sake, not a politician. Not someone like Kray who could wear a convincing enough mask to fool an entire city. But maybe his frustration is proof enough that he is telling them the truth. He is called to speak publicly less and less. 

The weeks tick by and the legal proceedings move on and suddenly Lio isn't needed with immediacy. And suddenly, his chest feels far more hollow than he'd allowed himself to notice while in the thick of things. 

The Burnish are scattered. Those who had homes waiting have already resettled. Those who didn’t are starting to find them. Meis and Gueira are near, still ready and willing to support their Boss, but Lio knows they have each other, and even if they feel that empty ache too, he suspects it’s not as difficult to bear as his. Maybe that is his arrogance talking. All the same, he doesn’t mention it. 

The city of Promepolis had offered Lio an apartment on their dime, but when he walked in the space was as hollow as his chest. He refused it, because Galo being Galo had already opened his own home. Lio finds it easier to bear the yawning gap when around that larger-than-life idiot. So he sleeps on Galo’s couch even when Galo insists he take the bed, and scolds him for leaving his laundry unfolded, and tries to pretend he isn’t empty. 

He hangs around the Burning Rescue station sometimes, because it is noise and chaos and light, and he likes to be useful even if he himself is no longer fireproof. Lio knows he is welcome. Galo makes every effort to make sure. Remi and Varys include him when they play cards. Lucia pokes and prods and asks questions about his former physiology, and gets scolded by the rest of the crew for it, but Lio knows that’s her way to be friendly. Ignis intimidates him at first, but he quickly realizes the man is just a dad watching after his rowdy kids, doing his best to keep them from harm even as they walk directly into danger. 

Lio wonders what it would be like to have a dad like Ignis. Lio wonders why Galo still latched onto Kray after Ignis entered his life. But it isn’t his place to ask, so he doesn’t, and the thought of Kray still fills him with a rage that wants an outlet in fire and flame that he can no longer provide, so he ignores it. 

Aina is the one he’s most at ease with, and he enjoys her company. They relax on the couch and roll their eyes at Galo’s antics while glancing at each other with a grin, well aware they love him for exactly this behavior. He might hang out with her more, but when her older sister is around, and she leaps up to hug her,  _ her _ , Heris, the scientist who made his people’s existence a living hell even if she helped save them later--Lio tenses and his stomach lurches and he can’t stay in the same room. 

And still, he is empty. There is no echo in his soul telling him to burn, and without it, he doesn’t know what’s left. 

It is one of those moments in which he is so desperate to feel the fire again that Galo finds him. 

Lio is seated at the kitchen island in Galo’s apartment, a candle before him. He’s been dipping his fingers into the flame, in and out, feeling a burn he doesn’t recognize as his but chasing it anyways. When Galo busts open the door with an obnoxious shout, Lio flinches. He slams his palm into the flame, smothering it, letting the wax melt into his skin. 

He stares at Galo. Galo stares back. For a moment, Lio has an urge to bolt the likes of which he hasn’t felt since he lived on the run. 

But then Galo takes the stool across from him, and Lio feels that urge drain away, leaving him emptier than before. 

"Hey Lio? Do you remember when you turned into a giant fire dragon?" 

Of course he does. He remembers and he aches with it. He pulls his hand away from the dead candle, its wax flaking on his skin. "Yes. What's your point?" 

"You were crying." 

Lio blinks. He wasn't sure what he expected Galo to say, but it wasn't that. He can't guess the point, so he waits. 

"You haven't cried at all since, have you?" 

"No. I haven't." He hadn’t even realized. 

"I think you should! I know it's different, I know you were suffering then because your people were in pain. But you're still really strong! Even if you won't turn into a giant fire dragon this time. Even if you're crying for yourself instead. It helps. To get the feelings out." 

Lio hasn't responded yet, doesn’t know what to say, but Galo is starting to squirm under his gaze. For lack of a better reply, Lio asks, "What? Is that what you do?" 

Galo scoffs. "I cry all the time! Haven't you seen the burning passion of my firefighter's soul!? I can't keep that contained! Neither should you!" 

Lio feels something welling up in his chest. It isn't flame; it's wet and it burns in a way his flame never did. "You idiot," he finally says. "You fucking idiot." 

And before Galo can even reply, Lio is sobbing. The grief spills over and out, and he can't make it stop, hiccuping when he tries to and ultimately crying louder. He can't see clearly anymore, but he knows Galo is still there, so he reaches out and grabs the damn fool across the narrow counter and wails into his bare chest. Later Lio will be embarrassed, getting tears and snot all over Galo like that, but right then he doesn't care, because there's something missing inside him and now that this dam has been broken, the tears won't stop until all of them have flooded out. 

At some point, Galo carries him to the couch. Lio clings to him as he shudders through the pain, not enough left of him to cry any louder or let loose more tears. When he calms enough to look up, it’s to find Galo has been weeping, too, but now the idiot grins, and rubs his shoulder, and says, “See? It feels better now.” 

Lio doesn’t know if it feels  _ better _ , but he finds he is a different sort of hollow. There is still anguish in his chest, filling a hole that shouldn’t be there, but it’s calmer now. It is bearable. 

“I don’t know who I am anymore,” he admits. 

“You’re Lio Fotia! And you still burn brighter than anyone I know! Well. Apart from me.” 

Lio’s laugh is wet and ugly, but he holds tighter onto this firefighting idiot, the other half of the team that saved the world. “I love you, Galo Thymos.” He doesn’t give Galo a chance to respond. “I’m tired. Let’s go to sleep.” 

They both sleep in Galo’s bed that night, and even if there’s still something missing in Lio’s chest, he feels a warmth he thought was lost forever. 

**Author's Note:**

> Oh lol if anyone's here from my other most recent fic I promise I'm continuing it, I juuuust finished my semester the same day I saw Promare though (aka like three days ago) so I'm just taking my sweet sweet time relaxing. 
> 
> Anyways. I've got the same handle on Twitter, if you wanna hear me talk about random shit or cry about stuff I like. Hope you enjoyed this!


End file.
